Armhole closure for incubators for infants



Jan. 18, 1955 I EMERSQN 2,699,826

ARMHOLE CLOSURBF'OR INCUBATORS FOR INFANTS Filed March 29, 1952 UnitedStates Patent Ofiice 2,699,826 Patented Jan. 18, 1955 ARMHOLE CLOSUREFOR INCUBATORS FOR INFANTS John H. Emerson, Arlington, Mass. ApplicationMarch 29, 1952, Serial No. 279,382

3 .Claims. (Cl. 160-479) This invention relates to incubators forinfants. One

example of the type of infants placed in such an incubator is a babywhich has been prematurely born.

Incubators of the type to which this invention pertains consist of ababy enclosing casing which is provided with a support upon which thebaby reclines. The casing is provided with one or more openings of sucha size as to be able to receive the hand and forearm of a nurse or otherattendant to permit feeding the bady, bathing it, changing its diapersand otherwise comforting it without removing it from the casing.

More particularly the invention relates to an improved anopening in thecasing and improved closure means for providing a substantiallyair-tight seal between an attendants arm and the edge of the casingopening.

A further object is to-provide such an improved closure meanswhichautomatically closes the opening upon withdrawal of the attendantsarm.

Another object is to provide such an improved closure having detachableparts which may readily be removed and replaced by a nurse or otherattendant.

A further object is to provide such a closure which is adapted for usein connection with an opening in a portion of a patient enclosing casingwhich is curved in cross section.

A further object is to provide a novel closure for an arm opening in anincubator which is simple in operation, economical to manufacture, easyto clean and easy to replace.

Other objects relate to the construction and mode of operation and willbe apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawingswhich exemplify one embodiment of my invention chosen for the purposesof illustration.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of an apparatus embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of Fig. l on a reduced scale;and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the lines 33 of Pi 1.

%n the apparatus illustrated the supporting structure comprises fourlegs secured to a substantially rectangular frame member 11. Casters(not shown) are mounted on the lower extremities of the legs 10 so thatthe incubator may be readily moved from place to place.

The incubator casing comprises a stainless steel, panlike member 12 andthe transparent member 13 which is upwardly curved in cross section. Theupper member 13 may be made of a transparent plastic such as Lucite andit is provided with a flange 17 which rests lightly upon the flange 18of the lower member 12. The upper member 13 is hinged to the lowermember 12 by means of a pair of spaced lugs 14 secured to the uppermember 13, a pair of spaced lugs 15 secured to the lower member 12 and ahorizontal rod 16 which is secured to the lugs 15 and passes looselythrough perforations in the lugs 14. Thus the upper member 13 may bemoved upwardly about the horizontal axis formed by the rod 16 to openthe casing to permit the baby to be placed therein and then lowered toclose the casing.

A horizontal baby support (not shown) is provided within the lowermember 12 and the infant reclines on that support while within theincubator casing.

In the embodiment which is illustrated four substantially circularopenings 20 are provided in the upper casing member 13. Each of theseopenings is of sufficient size to receive the hand and forearm of anattendant when the attendants hand is inserted from the exterior to theinterior of the incubator casing.

The closure for each casing opening 20 includes a first strip ofresilient material 21, made of vulcanized rubber, neophene or the like,which is attached to one side of the periphery of the opening 20 andwhich bridges slightly more than one-half of the opening and a secondstrip of resilient material 31 attached to the casing adjacent to theother side of the periphery of the opening and bridging the portion ofthe opening which is not bridged by the first strip. The second strip 31overlaps the first strip 21 adjacent to the edge of the first stripwhich extends across the opening. In the preferred embodiment the firststrip 21 is provided with a concave edge 22 and the second strip 31 isalso provided with a concave edge 32. p

The closure strips 21-3l are detachably held in position by a pluralityof enlarged headed studs 40 located adjacent to the periphery of theopening 20 and a plurality of openings or perforations 41 in theportions of the strips which overlie the casing. The faces of the headsof the studs 49 which are adjacent to the casing member 13 are spacedoutwardly from the casing a sufiicient distance to permit the strips tolie loosely between said faces and the casing member 13 as shown in Fig.3. The diameter of each perforation or opening 41 is less than thediameter of the enlarged heads of the studs 40 so that the resilientstrip must be stretched to enlarge the diameter of the openings topermit insertion of the heads 40 therethrough when the strip is mountedacross the opening. The openings are so located in each strip that it isnecessary to stretch the strip both transversely and peripherally whenit is mounted over the studs 40. This causes the strip to extend tightlyacross the opening and also tightly between the studs 4t) peripherallyof the opening after the strip has been mounted by inserting the headsthrough the perforations 41.

The studs 40 are provided with etxeriorly threaded portions which engageinteriorly threaded perforations in the upper casing member 13 and whichalso engage interiorly threaded passages of the lock nuts 50.

In use, the baby is placed within the casing upon the substantiallyhorizontal patient support (not shown) and the interior of the casing isheated to the desired temperature of from 80 F. to F. by any suitableheating means (not shown). Oxygen may be fed to the interior of thecasing by any suitable means (not shown) and the temperature of theinterior of the casing may be observed by a thermometer located therein(not shown).

When the nurse desires to place her hand within the casing to care forthe baby she passes it between the concave edges 22 and 32 of theresilient strips 21-31 and the concave edges of the strips engage herwrist or forearm thereby maintaining a substantially air-tight sealbetween it and the casing and preventing the loss of heated air, oxygenor the like. When she withdraws her hand the strips automatically returnto their normal position in which they bridge the opening and theiradjacent edges are overlapped as shown in Fig. 3. Because the adjacentedges 22, 32 are concave, they do not catch upon each other to leave anunbridged portion of the opening as is the case when straight edges: areprovided rather than concave edges.

While it is preferable to provide a concave edge for each strip, asatisfactory closure results if a concave edge is provided only on theinnermost strip, i. e. the strip 21 because such a concave edge willsatisfactorily detach itself from a straight edge on the outermost stripand be cause the innermost strip is the one which returns first as thenurses hand is withdrawn.

The strips may easily be detached for replacement or cleaning by pullingtheir peripheries outwardly. During such operation the enlarged heads ofthe through the perforations 41.

While I have shown and described one desirable embodiment of theinvention, it is to be understood that this disclosure is for thepurpose of illustration only and that various changes in shape,proportion and arrangement of parts and the substitution of equivalentelements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an incubator for infants having a patient enclosing casing, theupper portion of which is outwardly convex in cross section, and anopening in the convex portion of said casingfor receiving the hand andforearm of an attendant, an improved closure for said casing openingcomprising a first strip of resilent material overlying the casingadjacent to the periphery of said opening and bridging approximatelyone-half of said opening, the edge of said strip which extends acrossthe opening being concave, a second strip of resilient materialoverlying the casing adjacent to the periphery of said opening andbridging the portion of the opening which is not bridged by said firststrip and overlapping the edge of the first strip which extends acrossthe opening, the casing having a plurality of outwardly projecting studsadjacent to and spaced about the periphery of the opening, each studhaving an enlarged head with its lower face spaced outwardly from thecasing but below the plane of the outer edge of the opening, thatportion of each strip which overlies the casing having a plurality ofopenings of smaller diameter than the enlarged heads whereby the edge ofeach opening of each strip contracts about the shank of the stud whichit surrounds between the casing and the head of the stud and the stripsare thereby removably attached to the casing.

2. In an incubator for infants having a patient enclosing casing and anopening in said casing for receiving the hand and forearm of anattendant, an improved closure for said casing opening comprising twostrips of resilient material, each strip overlying the casing adjacentto the periphery of said opening and having overlapped edge portionsextending across the opening, the edges of said strips which extendacross the opening being concave,

studs 40 pass the casing having a plurality of outwardly projectingstuds adjacent to and spaced about the periphery of the opening, eachstud having an enlarged head with its lower face spaced outwardly fromthe casing and at least the major portion of said lower face beinglocated below the plane of the outer edge of said opening, that portionof each strip which overlies the casing having a plurality of openingsof smaller diameter than the enlarged heads and operative to bestretched over said heads and to engage the shanks of the studs betweenthe casing and said heads, whereby the strips are removably attached tothe casing.

3. In an incubator for infants having a patient enclosing casing, theupper portion of which is outwardly convex in cross section and anopening in the convex portion of said casing for receiving the hand andforearm of an attendant, an improved closure for said casing openingcomprising two strips of resilient material, each strip overlying thecasing adjacent to the periphery of said opening and having overlappededge portions extending across the opening the edges of said stripswhich extend across the opening being concave, the casing having aplurality of upwardly projecting studs adjacent to and spaced about theperiphery of the opening, each stud having an enlarged head with itslower face spaced above the casing but below the plane of the peripheryof the opening, that portion of each strip which overlies the casinghaving a plurality of openings spaced inwardly from said studs and ofsmaller diameter than the enlarged heads, whereby the edge of eachopening of each strip contracts about the shank of the stud which itsurrounds between the casing and the edge of the stud and the strips arethereby removably attached to the casing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS GriebIan. 10, 1952

